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Automobiles are turning into more advanced and complex since the last decade. With the arrival of electrical car technologies, with electronic fuel injection system and controlled systems, the automobiles have changed dramatically from what they used to be a few decades ago! The variety of cars which can get minor car repairs done by newbie mechanics is shrinking rapidly.

Let’s take a look at some signs that it’s time to take your automobile to an automobile repair store to avoid troubles and expensive repairs in the future.

The Automobile Is Less Than 10 Years Old

Automobiles that are newer than 10 years typically have really advanced systems. Even automobile repairs such as battery or a fuse changing, brakes replacement and common automobile service process can cause other parts of the system to operate if the right techniques are not followed.

The Repair You Are Planning Is Not In The New Car Handbook

If the car company is not advising you to try and do it yourself, it’s most likely safest not to try any repairs. If you are doubtful, it will be a better decision to call an auto mechanic to have a look at the problem first. Auto mechanic will advise you on safety points to keep in mind, if it’s seemingly that you will have to be compelled to create the fix again more in the future.

If There’s A Need To Remove Something Out Of The Automobile

Safety may be a serious issue while the repair is going on, so you need to be extra careful while doing automobile repair. While removing some heavy part out of the automobile, you are risking other parts of the automobile and yourself. It’s advised that you simply hire professional auto mechanic to perform this type of tasks.

The Automobile Repair Needs Equipment You Do Not Own In Your Garage

Contrary to common belief, not each automobile repair job will be finished by just using a shifter and sticky tape. If you do not have the right equipment to try and do the repairs yourself, the value in shopping for that tool/equipment usually outweighs the savings you were planning to make.

Your Automobile Comes With An Electronic Fuel Injection System

If your automobile has an electronic fuel injection system (and in several cases, this is often sealed in huge letters right the top, or at the side of the series name somewhere on the car body), it’s not safe to perform the repair job by yourself. Even car repairs which are not associated with the timing may throw the PC out, and might cost you a lot more money to repair at the mechanic’s than it might have cost originally.

Advantages of repairing a cracked windshield over replacing it and when to choose repair or replacement of the windshield. When something strikes your windshield several things can happen. Sometimes we get lucky and nothing happens and then there are those impacts that cause damage to the windshield. Star Breaks, Bulls-Eyes, and cracks of all sizes and configuration can occur and can quickly spread across the windshield. This is why these breaks should be looked at as soon as possible to decide if repair is in order.

Other questions, such as is the windshield pitted, badly sandblasted or frosted? How severe is the break, are the cracks or crack longer than twelve inches. Did the rock chip an area larger than a quarter or is their DE-lamination of a large area between the two layers of glass in the break. If the break is in the driver’s direct line of sight, directly in front of the driver above the steering wheel. If the damage in this area is over one square inch or roughly the size of a quarter or there are long cracks, a replacement must be considered.

Amazingly today many still don’t know about windshield crack repair and that it’s a valid choice. Considering today’s economy, windshield repair is going to save you time trouble and money. Having rock chips and cracks repaired soon after they occur will end the trouble, time and cost of replacement. Mobile windshield repair service is available where they come to you and repair your cracked windshield at your site and at your convenience saving you the time. Just enter mobile windshield chip or crack repair in your Google search.

Expediency of the repair will save you the time and trouble of having to replace the windshield due to further cracking from expansion due to the sun heating the cracked windshield while cool nights cause contraction of the cracks, these factors are constantly working on the cracks and expanding them. The expansion and contraction will quickly extend cracks rendering the windshield useless. Now throw in a car wash on a hot day with the windshields temperature at 130 degrees or higher, then add cold water to it and pop, you now have a cracked out windshield and replacement is the only option. Or on a cold day a little rain threw in and some late night freezing temperatures and you have another recipe brewing that will expand windshield cracks. After water enters a break and then freezes the water expands and so will the cracks. Sometimes just touching the break will expand cracks in the glass. There are several more scenarios that have the same result, windshield replacement; these sonorous are eliminated by repairing cracked windshields as soon as possible.

The money you save by timely repair of those cracked windshields is from $100.00 to more than $900.00 on some makes, models and year of the different cars and trucks. One of the most commonly asked questions is how much does it cost to repair a cracked windshield? The answer is the average cost to repair a star break or small crack in my windshield is from about $50.00 to $125.00 depending on the severity of the crack and the repair company you choose. Mobile windshield chip and crack repair will cost a little more due to fuel but will save you from having to wait for the repair. Instead of waiting around for the repair you could be shopping, working or relaxing at home. Average windshield chip and crack repair costs run like this, small crack or rock chip repair $50.00. Combination breaks and cracks less than six inches are $65.00 and $85.00 for cracks over six inches. How long will the repair take? All windshield breaks are different, some fill quickly while other breaks fill slowly depending on how tight the cracks are, repairs vary in time requirements but the average time required is one half hour to just under one hour depending on the severity of the break.

Quality windshield crack repairs will be stronger than the surrounding glass and is why company’s who do high-quality repairs will warranty their repairs. Repairing a cracked windshield retains the factory windshield and seal, eliminating a possible water leak or wind whistle that can occur with replacement. By retaining the secure factory installed windshield seal we know the passenger airbag that deploys off some windshields will hold providing proper cushioning for your passengers. Crack repair returns the safety and integrity of the windshield and that should give you peace of mind. Save time by calling a mobile windshield chip and crack repair company where they come to you and perform the repairs. Save the trouble of having your windshield replaced because of procrastination of the repair. Save money by timely repair of small windshield rock chips and cracks before they spread.

We all have been at least once in a situation where we have had vehicle trouble and required somebody to repair our car. Most folks have at one point of time been in such situations, and it’s often extraordinarily frustrating to get your car fixed however with no knowledge on who to call to get it fixed!

That is why it is important once you get an automotive vehicle to seek out a car mechanic in your neighbourhood that you could simply trust. Selecting a car mechanic before you truly want one may be a good way to assist you from making an emergency call that may cause wastage of more time and money.

Ask For Recommendations

Most of the experts agree with this tip – ask for recommendations while you are in the process of selecting a car mechanic. Remember that car mechanics perform in the service industry, and they are not solely there to repair your car, but to provide an overall service, which implies that you simply ought to confirm that the mechanic not solely is aware of the ways to repair cars, but also knows the way to treat his customers.

Of course, the best way to understand this as expected is to ask for recommendations before you visit a car mechanic garage. Your friends and family members, or maybe co-workers can help you find the mechanics with whom they have worked with before, and you may possibly notice that they good advice to give on what mechanic you ought to use and which of them you ought to avoid.

Visit Their Mechanic Shop

Do you think that every mechanic shop is same? Of course not! Most of us think that garages are filled with filth and are extraordinarily unorganized, which isn’t true. While you are attempting to pick a car mechanic garage, confirm that you simply take the time to visit their mechanic shop. If the mechanic shop is totally filthy and is actually unorganized, then you will wish to go to some other mechanic shop.

No doubt, some amount of dirt and grease is anticipated in a mechanic shop, the garage ought to be organized in order that the car mechanic will notice everything that he wants, and there ought to even be a clean and comfy waiting place for you to take a seat and wait in case the car is going to take a bit more time to get repaired.

Cost Of Repair

One more factor which is important to see while you are selecting a car mechanic is their price for car repairs. While you’re looking for a car mechanic don’t consider cost as the deciding factor. In fact focus more on the skills and experience of the mechanic.

Auto maintenance is a never-ending chore, but much of its proverbial sting can be removed with some advance planning, especially around seasonal changes that can place huge stresses and strains on a vehicle. Extremes of heat, and/or humidity can play havoc with an unprepared vehicle, so if you are facing a hot, humid summer, here is how to prepare your vehicle for the ordeal.

Change the oil

You have probably heard this a million times before, but this particular point ears repeating, especially if you live in a climate with harsh winter conditions. Oil designed for cold weather use cannot provide proper lubrication in hot weather because it thins out too much. Replace the oil with the grade recommended for summer use, and don’t forget to replace the filter as well.

If your wallet can stand the extra strain, replace the oil with fully synthetic oil, even if it is not specifically recommended by the manufacturer of your vehicle. Synthetic oil remains stable under a wider range of temperatures than regular mineral oil, with the added bonus that it provides almost twice the lubrication of mineral oil, which is good for any engine, and especially older, high mileage engines.

Replace the engine coolant

You have no doubt heard this a million times before as well, but proper auto maintenance requires that the engine coolant be replaced at least once a year. Apart from lowering the boiling point of water, the correct concentration of anti-freeze also prevents the corrosion of aluminum engine parts and components, which can cause serious issues, including engine failure.

Internal corrosion can open up leak paths through which coolant can be lost either to the outside of the engine, or into cylinders where it interferes with the combustion process. Coolant can also leak into the engine oil, with potentially disastrous results if the problem is not caught and resolved in time.

However, always follow the manufacturer’s recommendations regarding the amount of anti-freeze to add to the cooling system. Too much is as bad as too little; too much anti-freeze actually lowers the boiling point of water, meaning that your engine can overheat even though you have just replaced the coolant.

Check the battery

Hot, humid conditions kill more car batteries than even the coldest winters, so cut down on unexpected auto maintenance and maintenance costs by ensuring that your battery is up to the demands of summer conditions. Even marginally defective batteries can cause all manner of electrical issues, such as sporadic or unexpected trouble with alarm/security/anti-theft systems, low fuel pressure, difficult starting, or even rough idling, and/or rough running- among others.

Have the battery tested at a specialist battery dealer, and check that it can deliver the required cranking amps. Replace the battery if there is even the slightest doubt about its condition.

Remove road salt

If you live in an area where the roads are treated with salt during winter, be sure to have all salt deposits removed from the wheel wells and other places where slush tends to collect. Salt is highly corrosive, and not removing it will definitely cause rust and corrosion to set in. Once corrosion sets in, it may be impossible to stop or remove, so be sure to have all traces of salt removed as soon as the weather improves.

Check tires and tire pressures

Proper auto maintenance includes checking the condition and inflation of all tires, including the spare wheel. Tire pressure is as important as tire tread depth, so as soon as the weather improves, adjust the pressure in the tires to allow for heat expansion. High ambient temperatures and hot road surfaces can cause the air in a tire to expand, which can increase the pressure inside the tire by as much as 15% or more.

Never rely on the tire pressure monitoring system to warn you of under inflated tires. These systems are notoriously inaccurate, and a tire can be under inflated by as much as 25% before an alarm or warning light is triggered. Use a good quality digital tire pressure gauge to check your tire pressures at least once a week to maintain tire pressures at the recommended level.

Check the A/C system

In some climates, proper auto maintenance involves ensuring that the air conditioning system is fully functional, so avoid the rush and have your A/C system checked out before summer really sets in. Listen out for any unusual noises, sounds, or odors coming from the system, and have all faults repaired before a minor issue becomes a huge problem.

The best way to maintain an air conditioning system is to use it- even in the depths of winter. This not only keeps all the moving parts in the compressor lubricated, but it also largely prevents micro organisms from establishing colonies in the system’s ducting. So if you have not used the A/C system during the past winter and it now gives of an odor that smells like something had died in it, you have an unwelcome growth of bacteria, mold, and/or fungi in the system.

Remove the colony (and its odor) by spraying an approved disinfectant into the system, or have it done, because if you don’t, the smell could get so bad that it might become impossible to remove it from the car. Worse though, not treating this problem could cause serious respiratory problems in children, elderly persons, and/or persons with compromised immune systems.

At Prestige Auto Tech we are a group of professionals who share a common goal: Customer Satisfaction. We pride ourselves in that we strive to be the best in what we do and expect nothing less.

Let’s say you have a solid mobile oil change business and you want to make sure you keep track of your customers and keep them from migrating to competitors who put out low-ball coupons or fixed site locations with low-cost come-ons. What’s the best way to do this? Well, not long ago a successful mobile truck repair and oil changing entrepreneur asked me if “there is a program that will help with keeping track of customers, and help keep track of when to send out a flyer/postcard for repeat business.” Turns out the answer; is yes and this is a very good question. Let’s talk shall we?

Yes, there are several “Contact Management Software suites for small businesses” in fact, just search that phrase, better yet there are Apps now that do the same thing, store it all in the cloud and do nearly everything for you, inexpensive service companies, usually they are quite good. Also if you do mobile oil changing there are several companies in the Industry that will do this for you, sometimes the companies that sell you the oil will give you such software, others are Industry Vendors and often at trade shows, but if you don’t have time to go to one, just subscribe to NOLN – National Oil and Lube News; you can find them online because these contact software companies advertise with them.

Also there are such data bases for the auto detailing business and especially nice and sophisticated systems for carwashes. Subscribe to Professional Carwashing Magazine; also online. All these are great places to find the tools to keep track of customers.

Now then, what about integration of this data with financial spread sheets for forecasting and preparing accounting statements and taxes? This was the entrepreneur’s next important question; “What type of financial programs are out there besides Quickin Books. I have used it in the past and I figure there might be a better one out there that I may not know of. What did you use?”

Personally, I like Quicken and QuickBooks a lot, easy to work with and all the CPAs can use this information to help you. However there are Quicken “partners” that are industry specific, which makes it really nice to do spread-sheets, projections, proformas, and forecasting – also building nice P&Ls and Balance Sheets, and other misc. business financial documents. It’s nice to be all-connected, with a data base system including everything, even down to the end user information, of course security is very important for any platform, as you can NEVER allow yourself to be hacked or have a laptop stolen with personal customer information on it – right? Think on this and continued success in your mobile oil change business.

The car lift in many shops can be extremely costly, however is going to give you various advantages that without a doubt will make it worth your time. To begin, a car lift will make a car shop much more secure for the representatives, give accommodation when you are taking a shot at vehicles, furthermore help you with situating to make the repairing of autos much less demanding generally speaking. In the event that you experience considerable difficulties certain territories inside the motor, a car lift can truly help you.

Security

The most essential thing when working in a car shop both for the shopowners, the representatives, and in addition the general population that use the shop for the repairing of their vehicles, will be the wellbeing of the shop. Your representatives are going to spend a lot of their day in the shop working, and giving a sheltered situation to them, and also the vehicles that they’re chipping away at, must be absolutely critical to any shop proprietor. A car lift guarantees that autos are securely lifted over the ground, permitting your representatives to work underneath them without apprehension of different issues. Car lifts can make a repair shop much more secure for all who work in or around the shop. Both auto lifts, auto lifts, and different sorts of lifts can be to your best advantage.

Accommodation

The second immense advantage of introducing an auto lift in your repair shop is the accommodation that it will give. Rather than having a narrows in which your representatives stand-in, underneath the floor surface, to take a shot at vehicles the same number of little car repair shops do, the car lift gives you the capacity to remain on the ordinary floor dealing with the auto that is raised. The different auto lifts, auto lifts, and different sorts of lifts you can discover all give accommodation to representatives. This gives a great deal of accommodation to those that are working in your shop and permits them to work from a standing, agreeable position without hopping underneath the auto in a narrows to chip away at it.

Situating

The car lifts are certainly something that can help you to manage the situating issues that numerous auto mechanics face in chipping away at vehicles, since it permits you to raise the vehicle well over the ground level, and work from underneath it from a happy with standing position. This is basically not something that you can manage without a lift, which is going to make taking a shot at a vehicle all the much less demanding.

So you’ve purchased a set of coilover shocks for your car with spring pre load (or “spring tension”) adjustment, but do you know how to properly set it? Maybe your coilover system does not have independent ride height adjustability, you set it to yield a desired ride height, and are now just hoping the set pre load is within proper range. Or maybe your coilovers do have spring pre load adjustability independent of ride height adjustability, but you are unsure of how this affects performance. In this article we will describe the effects of spring pre load and how to properly set it.

Having too much or too little spring tension will negatively affect suspension performance, but in different ways. Too much spring tension can make your suspension feel like it is topping out. This happens because now the shock extends to its maximum length too suddenly, and this may unload your wheels from the road surface. Not enough spring tension can make your suspension bottom out excessively. Knowing these effects can help make the correct adjustments.

Let’s define a few terms to help understand spring pre load effects. The amount of stroke the spring consumes at static ride height from the weight of the vehicle is called “droop.” And the amount of stroke left over at static ride height is called “compression stroke.” The total shock stroke is droop and compression stroke combined.

Equation:

Total Shock Stroke = Droop + Compression Stroke

It is important to understand that spring tension does not affect the spring rate of a linear spring (most coilover systems come with linear springs). For example, increasing spring pre load WILL NOT increase the firmness of your linear spring. However, this WILL increase the amount of compression stroke you have which increases bottoming resistance.

Springs on most coilover systems have to be pre loaded in order to retain a desirable amount of compression stroke at static ride height. For example; if you have a coilover with a 200 lbs/in spring rate carrying 800 lbs of weight, without any pre set spring pre load, the coilover will compress 4″ just from the static 800 lbs of weight acting on it. If this coilover has a total of 5″ of stroke, this only leaves you with 1″ of compression stroke left over! In this scenario you must pre load the spring to insure you have more than 1″ of compression stroke. There is way too much droop in this scenario.

So we now know that spring tension affects droop. But what is the proper amount of droop to have? This varies depending on how much total stroke your coilovers have, so we treat the desired droop as a ratio of total shock stroke. In order to have an appropriate amount of droop, we recommend setting droop to be 30-40% of the total shock stroke (see equation below). Now you know that you have to adjust the spring tension on your coilovers to yield 30-40% droop!

Equation:

Desired Droop = Total Shock Stroke x.35

How to set spring pre load:

You must first measure the total shock stroke of your coilover (including the bump stop length). Then measure how much the coilover compresses when the vehicle is at static ride height. Subtract the compression stroke at static ride height from the total shock stroke to find the droop amount. Adjust spring pre load until suspension droop is between 30-40% of total shock stroke.

Equation:

Droop = Total Shock Stroke – Compression Stroke

Aurimas “Odi” Bakchis, is the CEO of Feal Suspension, Inc. and is also a professional race car driver. He has personally engineered Feal Suspension coilover systems to perform in a variety of applications and his success on track has proven the outstanding quality of his Feal Suspension products. Aurimas finished the 2015 Formula Drift World Championship as 2nd overall, has traveled the world drifting, taught a suspension seminar in Europe, and has been ranked as a Top 5 driver in the Formula Drift USA championship since 2014. His suspension expertise is sought by drivers ranging from the inexperienced to the professional.

Owning a vehicle can be practically identical to bringing up a tyke. It can cost you a ton of time, cash and devotion. Some of the time cleaning your auto routinely, topping it off with fuel and changing its oil frequently aren’t sufficient. Each auto proprietor long for adjusting their vehicles however once in a while the monetary allowance acts as a burden. Circumstances are different; updating your auto need not to be costly.

Express gratitude toward God for post-retail items, adjusting a vehicle is presently moderate. For just $100 or less, the fantasy auto that you are going for is inside span.

Here are a portion of the best reasonable vehicle mods for the financial plan cognizant:

Controlling Stabilizers. Safeguards are a standout amongst the most persevering parts of a vehicle as they give your auto an enhanced ride quality and strength by retaining shocks, vibrations and other, you’ll additionally require directing stabilizers for the side-to-side movements of the front end to keep the “shimmy” impact and “passing wobble”. Execution stuns safeguards and guiding stabilizers are very prescribed for wilderness rompers, particularly with curiously large tires. The most moderate brands of safeguards and guiding stabilizers are Rancho Shocks, Pro Comp, Skyjacker, Fabtech, Sidekick Tracker, and so on.

Air Filters. These channels filtrates the earth and flotsam and jetsam and other destructive particles entering your motor, permitting clean air to stream. They are accessible in four sorts: froth, bandage, cotton and paper air channels. The brands to keep an eye out for are AFE, K&N, Airaid and Rugged RidBrake Pads. Other than decreasing the vehicle speed if necessary, putting resources into a decent quality brake cushions and rotors keep the auto traveler safe by easily ceasing the auto. Exhausted brakes ought to in a split second supplant to maintain a strategic distance from mischances. Reasonable brands incorporate EBC, Stoptech, Centric and Hawk.

Driven Light Upgrade. Great lighting ought to be a need by any vehicle proprietor. Supplanting stock lights ought to be supplanted by secondary selling LED lights. They are brighter and vitality productive than the stock incandescent lamp knobs. Look at Putco, Sylvania and ProZ.

Windshield Wipers. Owning a decent arrangement of windshield wipers are an unquestionable requirement. It successfully evacuates downpour, soil, snow and ice from your windshield, permitting the driver to plainly see the street with no diversions. Look out for Bosch, Denso, PIAA and Windex.

For under $100, updating your vehicle is currently conceivable. These changes expect to convey a superior driving knowledge. Shabby doesn’t generally liken to sub-par quality. Secondary selling items are offered at a lower cost than their marked partners. Simply ensure that you comply with your vehicle’s outline before introducing any adjustment. What’s more, finally, as I have repeated in my past articles, plan and research your mods before spending your cash.

The modern cars are complex and require some expertise to know the problems that they are having. The cool thing is that there are many tools in the market that you can go with in order to identify the problems that your car has. These tools include:

Multimeter

A multimeter helps you to test the electrical current throughout your car. The sensors on your car convert the multimeter readings to voltages that the car computer can understand. Using the tool you will be able to check the sensor’s output voltage in order to verify a faulty wiring system. You will also be able to know if your system has a bad part that is creating out-of-spec signals that might be problematic in the future.

Vacuum-pressure gauge

The tool helps you to identify a problem in your engine. When the engine has problems, the problem is usually due to fuel, air or spark. The tool covers the air department so that you are able to work through the maze of vacuum lines in order to identify a leak or cracked tube that might be causing problems.

Fuel pressure gauge

The unit helps you to know whether the engine is getting enough or too much fuel. This helps you to eliminate some of the problems that your engine might be having.

OBD code reader

If you own a car you know the panic that comes in when the “Check Engine” light comes on. The first thing that many car owners do is rush to the nearest garage to have the car inspected. With the OBD code reader, you no longer have to panic when the light comes on. All you need to do is connect the tool to your car and you will know the exact problem that your car is having. This saves you money as you don’t have to hire someone to do it for you. You also avoid the guess work game that results in more problems.

There are many types of OBD code readers in the market that you can go for. You only need to choose the one that is ideal for you. If you want the most advanced tools, there are those that connect to your phone and send you all the details that you need to know about your car.

Conclusion

These are the diagnostic tools that you need to have to identify the problems in your car. For ideal results ensure that you properly use the tools.

With always expanding vehicles on the streets, individuals are generally seen attempting to park bigger cars into apparently smaller parking spots and it is not surprising at all that while doing this the cars get little dents and scratches. So, what should you do, neglect those to decrease the resale value of the cars or should you make a move and locate a quality auto body repair shop? Finding a decent auto repair shop becomes a lot easier once you have a better idea of what you are searching for.

A Few Qualities Of A Good Auto Body Repair Shop

At the point when searching for auto body repair shop where do you begin your journey to discover quality? The primary thing you might want to see is an auto repair they have done recently, or permit you to, have a walk around their shop. By taking a look at autos getting repaired, you can tell the level of service provided at that garage.

First of all, when taking a look at a completed auto body repair, what would it be a good idea for us to pay consideration on? Take as much time as needed, given your eyes a chance to look over the work done, do you find anything that instantly hop out, is the color coordination acceptable? Everything needs to look normal and untouched.

After that take a look at how it was concealed. Are there any indications of paint on the rubber lines, fabric or around the trims etc? Look down and see the boards and panels, a great auto body repair ought to be level and have no indications of swells or ripples. In the event that it’s not level it’s not done appropriately.

An experienced auto repair professional ought to utilize a sanding block at all times. Investigate the paint work, to search for any fine scratches or small pin openings. These are known as mapping out, and if they’re present then the job hasn’t been done properly.

You should also take a look at the general composition of the paint work, does everything match? An expert auto body repair professional will try his/her best to coordinate the texture of the spray work as good as a new one. This should be made possible by altering the spray pressure or changing the blend of the paint, yes, it’s a bit difficult job to do, but keep in mind that low quality repairs will affect the resale cost of your auto.